On February 7, 2009, a 16 year old high school student in Cadillac, MI took his own life after he could no longer endure the mean behavior of other students. His name was Alex Claypool Thomas Harrison.

The first letters of his name spell out ACT and that became the name of our group, ACT Now. Our number one goal is to STOP teenage suicide. We do this by raising funds for school and community projects, raising awareness by putting on events and passing out information and providing the students and other community members with a resource in their time of need.

Our community came together after this horrible tragedy in an incredible way, but we want to continue the positive results and carry it to different parts of our region, in Michigan and possibly nationwide.

See It. Hear It. Stop it. These words are not only a slogan for the ACT Now team, but a way of life. It represents everyone working together to stop mean behavior. You too can be a part of our efforts by joining our group, volunteering your time, donating to your school and simply respecting others for who they are.

There is a high rate of suicide in alcoholics and drug abusers. The reasons believed to cause the increased risk of suicide include the long-term abuse of alcohol and drugs causing physiological distortion of brain chemistry as well as the social isolation. Another factor is the acute intoxicating effects of the drugs may make suicide more likely to occur. Suicide is also very common in adolescent alcohol abusers, with 1 in 4 suicides in adolescents being related to alcohol abuse. In the USA approximately 30 percent of suicides are related to alcohol abuse. Alcohol abuse is also associated with increased risks of committing criminal offences including child abuse, domestic violence, rapes, burglaries and assaults.

Drug abuse affects the central nervous system (CNS), which produce changes in mood, levels of awareness or perceptions and sensations. Drug abuse, including alcohol and prescription drugs can induce symptomatically which resembles mental illness. This can occur both in the intoxicated state and also during the withdrawal state. In some cases these substance induced psychiatric disorders can persist long after detoxification, such as prolonged psychosis or depression after amphetamine or cocaine abuse. A protracted withdrawal syndrome can also occur with symptoms persisting for months after cessation of use.Benzodiazepines are the most notable drug for inducing prolonged withdrawal effects with symptoms sometimes persisting for years after cessation of use. Abuse of hallucinogens can trigger delusional and other psychotic phenomena long after cessation of use and cannabis may trigger panic attacks during intoxication and with use it may cause a state similar todysthymia. Severe anxiety and depression are commonly induced by sustained alcohol abuse which in most cases abates with prolonged abstinence. Even moderate alcohol sustained use may increase anxiety and depression levels in some individuals. In most cases these drug induced psychiatric disorders fade away with prolonged abstinence.